The Storm in the Fire
by littleflower54276408
Summary: Firepaw and Sandpaw absolutely hate each other Sandpaw thinks that Firepaw is a soft kittypet, not worth of being a warrior, Firepaw thinks Sandpaw is too bossy and mean. But as fate may have it they grow closer and their friendship may blossom into something more.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N My First Fanfic so read, review and tell me whether to continue :)**

Firepaw was in the forest stalking a squirrel that was nibbling a nut.

He crouched and inched forward making sure his paws didn't accidently snap a branch.

He waited to make sure he was down-wind and pounced; he swiftly bit its neck and buried it for later.

Firepaw heard a robin whistling and went to see where it was, he was stalking it until Graypaw popped out of a bush and scared it away.

"Graypaw you just scared away my robin!" whined Firepaw.

"Whoops, sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Well it's time to get back to camp anyways so collect your pry and let's go!"

"Alright I'll meet you back at camp," said Firepaw.

Firepaw went back to his cache of prey and picked up a mouse that he had caught and a vole he had caught earlier.

He ran back to camp and went to get prey for the queens.

He picked up a plump rabbit and two mice for them to share.

He walked over to the nursery and went in; he could smell the musty milk scent and greeted the queens.

"I brought prey!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Thank you Firepaw," said Frostfur.

Firepaw said goodbye and went to sit by the apprentice den to share tongues with Graypaw.

He went to the fresh-kill pile to get a mouse and sat down next to Graypaw who was eating a vole.

"So did you hear?" asked Graypaw.

"No, what happened?" asked Firepaw

"According to Ravenpaw, we're having an assessment tomorrow, so we should get some rest so we can do our best tomorrow," replied Graypaw

"Alright then sounds like a plan," he responded taking another bite of his mouse savoring the flavor.

They promptly finished their meals and went to the apprentice's den to get some sleep.

Sandpaw and Dustpaw came in a little later and just happened to "accidently" step on Firepaw's tail.

"Hey watch where you're going!" he complained.

"Oops, sorry didn't see you there kittypet," sneered Dustpaw.

"Yeah you look like a hairball from here," taunted Sandpaw.

He just ignored the two and went back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning he got up at dawn to eat early so Bluestar wouldn't have to wait.

Firepaw poked Graypaw until he awoke and went to get some prey.

He got a squirrel for himself and a magpie for Graypaw.

Graypaw walked out of the den freshly groomed and sat by Firepaw.

Firepaw gave him the magpie and they finished their prey quickly.

Bluestar and Lionheart came over to them and Bluestar began "Today you are going to be assessed on your hunting and battle skills,"

Lionheart continued for her "You two and Ravenpaw will be sent in different areas to catch prey and then come to the Sandy Hallow for battle practice,"

They nodded their heads eagerly and Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw walked over. "Ravenpaw you will be joining them today," he said stiffly

"Firepaw you will be going to the Great Sycamore," meowed Lionheart

Firepaw ran to the Great Sycamore quickly, possibly because of the evil eye Tigerclaw was giving him.

He heard a mouse and got into a hunter's crouch.

The mouse was completely oblivious and he pinpointed its location.

He slid his paws forwards and bunched his hindquarters before leaping on its neck and killing it.

He was out until sun-high with a small pile of prey consisting of a finch, two mice, and a pigeon.

He collected his prey and brought it to the fresh-kill pile.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sandpaw approaching.

"Hello _kittypet_, bringing back prey a real warrior caught?" she mocked.

"I'll have you know I caught this myself Sandpaw," replied Firepaw

She seemed a bit surprised, but jeered back "I bet all that prey was sick and injured then,"

Firepaw bit back a retort and settled for "Well it wasn't and I have an assessment to go to," and with that he left Sandpaw and ran to the Sandy Hallow

Firepaw arrived to see he was the second one there.

Ravenpaw was there and Tigerclaw was saying something to him Firepaw was too far away to make out.

So he walked up to them and greeted Ravenpaw "Hey Ravenpaw, how did your hunting go?"

"F-fine it was good I caught a water vole and two squirrels, how about you?" he asked.

"I had a good amount of prey," Firepaw replied.

Firepaw then saw Bluestar arrive and went to greet her, only to see Sandpaw and Dustpaw behind her.

He groaned inwardly. "Hello Bluestar," he greeted with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

"Good to see you Firepaw, I saw that you hunted well but now it is time to see how you do against more experienced opponents," said Bluestar

Bluestar asked Graypaw to go against Dustpaw and after squishing Graypaw by tackling him, Graypaw admitted defeat.

Next Firepaw had to go against Sandpaw; he couldn't wait to finally get back at her.

They circled each other, trying to see what the other would do before Sandpaw rushed at him.

Firepaw moved to the side but Sandpaw stretched her paw out and caught his leg causing him to fall.

He rolled to his side in time for Sandpaw to pounce where he was seconds before.

They played the game of cat and mouse until Firepaw rushed at her.

He tried to get her off-balance by hitting her head but she ducked and clawed at his face with sheathed claws.

He stumbled and Sandpaw took his legs out from under him, effectively pinning him.

"Sandpaw wins!" declared Bluestar. "Well done, but you could use more work Firepaw," with that they went back to camp.


	2. Chapter 2

Firepaw woke up to see that it was the crack of dawn.

He groaned and stretched before he started grooming himself.

He slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes and went to the fresh-kill pile and took a mouse.

Firepaw walked to a patch of weak sunlight and began to eat.

Once he was done he looked around for Bluestar to see she was nowhere to be found.

Just then she came back from patrol and padded over to him.

"Firepaw, good to see you're up early!" she said.

"What are we doing today?" asked Firepaw.

"We will be working on hunter's crouch seeing you have a little trouble," she replied.

"Can we do battle training afterwards Bluestar?" pleaded Firepaw. "I want to be able to beat Sandpaw!"

He remembered last night, how he was teased the entire time. "You can't be a real warrior _kittypet_; you didn't even come close to beating me. At least Graypaw landed a few hits on Dustpaw," she mocked.

Eventually Firepaw went to his nest and completely ignored them until they stopped.

Amused at Firepaw's antics she said "Only if you do well today," and walked off towards the entrance of the camp.

Firepaw quickly followed her and soon they were next to the Owl Tree.

Bluestar put a leaf in front of him and told him to get into a hunter's crouch.

He quickly complied and slowly stepped forward, making sure he was downwind from the leaf.

"Good, but keep your tail lower to the ground and don't move it side to side," she said motioning towards his tail that was swishing side to side before asking "What is the difference between stalking a bird and a mouse?

"Birds will smell you before they see you and mice will tell you're there through the vibrations you make in the ground," he responded.

"Correct," said Bluestar. "Now go catch two birds and bring them back here before sun-high and we'll go out for some battle training," she said before disappearing into the forest.

Firepaw went forward to the Great Sycamore knowing there would be birds eating seeds there.

He saw a wren near the roots of a tree trying to get a worm out of the ground.

It was going to fly away soon so Firepaw quickly got into a hunter's crouch and slithered forward.

When he was close enough to pounce he bunched his hindquarters and leaped but the wren must have smelled him a second before because it got away by a mouse-tail.

"Mouse dung!" he cursed before scenting the air and moving on to a finch he smelled nearby.

By the sun-high he had caught a finch, a crow, and a vole that had been unfortunate enough to cross paths with him as he was returning to camp.

He went through the gorse tunnel and brought his prey to the elders den.

"Thank you Firepaw," said Dappletail before sharing the vole with Patchpelt.

He ran towards the entrance and waited for Bluestar.

Firepaw started pacing around impatiently before Bluestar emerged from her den and asked, "How did you do?"

"I caught a finch, a crow, and a vole," Firepaw replied.

"Good, I guess we are going to do battle training then," said Bluestar.

"Yes!" said Firepaw excitedly, before going towards the Sandy Hallow.

Bluestar ran forward passing him and Firepaw ran pushed his legs faster to keep up with her.

When they arrived Bluestar said "Ok then today we will work on offense, you try to attack me and I will try to take you down without attacking you directly,"

She got down to a low crouch and Firepaw mirrored her pose and they started circling each other.

Quickly Firepaw charged forward and as she moved to the side he turned and jumped on her back.

He slightly unsheathed his claws so he could get a grip on Bluestar's fur.

She rolled on her back and Firepaw was forced to jump off.

Bluestar then charged at him and pinned him.

"Try doing something less predictable," she said before resuming her crouch.

Firepaw charged her again.

Seeing as she would expect him to do it again he did the unexpected.

He completely used him weight against her and she stumbled trying to regain her balance.

Firepaw used that opportunity to jab her a few times before jumping on her again and dropping on her.

The extra weight made her fall and Firepaw jumped off and pinned her as she rolled over to try to evade him.

"Nice work," she said before getting up. "Let's have another round shall we?"

They resumed battling until the sun was long gone and Firepaw could barely stand up.

"Good job today," said Bluestar before they walked slowly towards camp, training Firepaw had been exhausting on her too.

Firepaw was fast asleep dreaming about a catching a mouse when he was shaken awake by Graypaw.

"Go away I want more sleep," Firepaw said in a slurred voice.

"Bluestar said she wanted to see you," said Graypaw.

"Uhhhh fine give me a minute," Firepaw replied before getting up, walking around in a circle, and walking out the den.

He walked over to Bluestar's den before saying "Good morning Bluestar," alerting her of his presence before entering her den and sitting down.

"Hello Firepaw, I called you in to tell you that you're having an assessment on hunting in pairs," said Bluestar.

"Ok then, are the pairs being assigned or do we get to pick?" asked Firepaw.

"That's up to Lionheart he is in charge of the assessment. Now go, you don't want to be late!" replied Bluestar as she shooed him out of her den.

"Alright then, he saw the other apprentices near the fresh-kill pile and picked a mouse out for himself.

"Where is Lionheart?" he asked Graypaw who was plucking the feathers of a thrush.

"He's speaking to Sandpaw and Dustpaw; they're joining us for the assessment!" Graypaw said with false cheerfulness.

"Oh joy!" said Firepaw sarcastically.

Lionheart walked over to them and said "Alright then ready to go?"

"Yes," they replied.

And with that they headed off.

"Sandpaw and Firepaw you will be a pair and Dustpaw and Graypaw you will be a pair," said Lionheart as they halted to a stop as they reached the middle of the forest.

Firepaw internally groaned at the thought of having to hunt with Sandpaw and Sandpaw actually did groan out load.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she saw the look that Lionheart was giving her.

"Remember when you are hunting in pairs you have to co-operate and work together, I will be monitoring you but you won't know I'm there," said Lionheart. "Now off you go and whichever group brings back more prey gets first pick of the fresh-kill pile.

Sandpaw walked over to Firepaw and said "Because Lionheart said we have to work together kittypet, you will be driving the prey out while I get the prey, got that _Firepaw_," saying his name like it was a piece of rotten crow-food.

Firepaw was upset he was being told what to do by Sandpaw but was satisfied with the fact she didn't call him a kittypet the second time.

Sandpaw ran off as Firepaw followed her and came to an abrupt stop.

Sandpaw flicked her tail towards a mouse hiding near the roots of a tree and crept around the tree trunk before scaring it out towards Firepaw.

Firepaw quickly slammed his paws on it neck and delivered the killing bite.

He turned to the roots where Sandpaw was only to see her tail disappear around the other side of the tree trunk. He heard the words "Hurry up Firepaw!" before burying the prey and running off in the direction she disappeared.

In the end they caught two mice, a magpie, and a shrew.

They returned to camp and Lionheart praised them on working very well together which caused them both to make horrified expressions and run off to Graypaw and Dustpaw.

Graypaw and Dustpaw couldn't work together that well so they caught a couple of mice.

Firepaw picked off a plump rabbit and shared it with Graypaw.

"Dustpaw is such a bossy furball," grumbled Graypaw between bites of the rabbit. "He kept yelling at me saying "Get over here" and "You were supposed to drive it the other way!" when all I did was do what he asked," Graypaw ranted. "Honestly it's like he expects me to know what he's thinking and do it exactly like he says!" continued Graypaw.

"Are you finished?" asked Firepaw.

"Not quite," replied Graypaw. "I would have clawed his ears off if Lionheart wasn't watching! Ok now I'm finished. So how did you hunting go? I bet Sandpaw was a nightmare!"

"It wasn't really that bad. We really just talked when we need to, we used signals to show where prey was and Sandpaw made it clear to follow her after we finished burying a piece of prey," said Firepaw.

"You mean it wasn't torture!" exclaimed Graypaw. "I will never understand how you could possibly hunt with Sandpaw and NOT be fuming when you come back,"

"It wasn't super fun, it just wasn't horrible," Firepaw replied finishing the last of the rabbit.

And with that he headed to his nest to get some well-deserved sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I figured you guys wouldn't want to read just about his everyday life so this will be a moon or two after the last chapter. **

Firepaw had woken up stiff that morning and stretched slowly.

He quickly got up thinking back to what Bluestar had said the other day.

Firepaw had overheard Bluestar talking to Lionheart saying "I think they are almost ready to become warriors, they seem to be doing well and have learned the more advanced battle moves,"

Firepaw was excited as he hoped she was referring to Graypaw, Ravenpaw, and himself.

So lately he had been on his best behavior.

Bluestar walked up to him "Firepaw you will be testing your fighting skills, so report to the Sandy Hallow after you bring prey to the queens," said Bluestar.

Firepaw quickly took a plump young rabbit and a large dove to the queens.

They thanked him and he nodded his head before he ran towards the entrance.

He rushed towards the Sandy Hallow and was displeased when he saw Sandpaw and Dustpaw there.

Ravenpaw and Graypaw were there too though and Graypaw gestured with his tail for Firepaw to come over.

"Are we going against Sandpaw and Dustpaw _again_?" Firepaw grumbled.

They had spent more time sparring with Sandpaw and Dustpaw than Firepaw would like.

"Yes, yes we are, but at least we've gotten better. Last time I actually held my own against Sandpaw for a while!" said Graypaw.

"At least we are improving, maybe we can beat them this time," said Ravenpaw.

"Dustpaw and Ravenpaw, you two are first up!" said Bluestar.

"Goody!" said Ravenpaw sarcastically as he stepped up to the center of the hollow.

Dustpaw tended to use his size to slam and daze them so Ravenpaw was **not** looking forwards to this.

They started circling each other and while Ravenpaw was deciding whether to offensive or defensive, Dustpaw made the chose for him.

Darting forward Dustpaw jumped at the last second to get on top of Ravenpaw and knock him over, but Ravenpaw was prepared so he got up on his hind legs and clawed at Dustpaw with sheathed paws.

He landed neatly on the side while Dustpaw crashed onto the sand next to him.

Dustpaw, now aware he wasn't toying with Ravenpaw anymore started harassing him prodding him and pushing him back.

Ravenpaw jumped over him but was caught by his leg and collapsed on the ground as Dustpaw jerked him down and pinned him.

"Uhh," he moaned. He sat up and when the world stopped spinning went to the sidelines.

"Very good Ravenpaw, but you need to attack your opponents with fast hits and retreat so you don't get cornered and lose the battle," said Bluestar.

"Firepaw and Sandpaw are up next," she said sitting back.

They stepped up and since their last match Firepaw had grown bigger so she couldn't use her size against him.

They began circling each other before Firepaw lashed out and jumped behind her when she tried to counter.

"You think you can win this kittypet? You are dead wrong," hissed Sandpaw as she pounced on his back and pummeled his ears.

Firepaw rolled and as she jumped down he bit her tail gingerly to stop her from getting away before they both stood on their handles and wrestled until Firepaw fell over and it became a mess of fur and you couldn't tell where Firepaw started and Sandpaw ended.

Finally Firepaw exhausted Sandpaw and swept her legs out from under her and held her down with his paws effectively pinning her.

They were both panting and Firepaw realized they were a whisker apart and he could feel her fast and shallow breaths on his face and they stood there frozen like statues for what seemed like hours but was actually seconds.

Then Bluestar announced "Firepaw wins! Well done Firepaw!" before he scrambled away towards Graypaw.

"Well someone was getting a bit close for comfort weren't they?" said Graypaw cheekily.

"Shut up we were just sparring," said Firepaw his face burning with embarrassment.

"Sure," said Ravenpaw who had stopped staring off after hearing Graypaw's statement.

"Let's go! I think I have to do sun-high patrol," said Firepaw before rushing off.

**A/N: I realize this was a short chapter, but I will be updating later this weekend. Also I would appreciate if you could review because I have had only 1 review for Chp.2 and I would like to know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for reviewing last chapter! I got a lot more reviews and that showed me your eagerness for another chapter, so here it is!**

"I can't believe it, he beat me! He is an insignificant kittypet! I'm the pure-blooded warrior, the one who is better, stronger, and faster!"

Firepaw was sitting near the apprentice's den eating a starling when he heard someone talking.

"It's ok Sandpaw he isn't an honorable warrior anyways, Bluestar will have him thrown out when she sees how bad he does during his assessment," said who he assumed was Dustpaw.

Firepaw scowled he had beat her fair and square and proved himself over many times yet she still didn't think he was worthy of being a warrior.

Firepaw padded over to Bluestar. "Firepaw you are going on the sun-high patrol with Sandpaw, Ravenpaw, and Tigerclaw you should hurry you don't want to keep them waiting," said Bluestar exuberantly.

He walked over to where he saw them waiting.

"It's about time you got here Firepaw!" said Tigerclaw gruffly.

They went over by the RiverClan border to make sure that RiverClan wasn't taking Sunningrocks again.

Everyone was still on their toes after Redtail died.

"Sandpaw and Firepaw, you go mark the other side of the border, Ravenpaw and I will go along this side," said Tigerclaw.

"Are you sure we shouldn't stick together?" asked Ravenpaw.

"Are you questioning me?" hissed Tigerclaw.

"N-no I just thought w-we should stay t-together in case we get ambushed," stuttered Ravenpaw nervously.

"Let's go!" growled Tigerclaw glaring like he wanted to kill Ravenpaw before he stalked off.

"Something doesn't seem right," Firepaw muttered.

"You go on ahead, I think I saw a thrush over there," yelled Firepaw to Sandpaw.

"Alright just head back quick I want to get this patrol over with as quick as possible," she yowled back.

Firepaw quietly headed towards where he saw Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw go.

Firepaw finally caught up to them and saw Tigerclaw say something in Ravenpaw's ear before he stalked off and marked the border.

Firepaw rustled the bushes and made a bird-like sound until Ravenpaw saw him and asked Tigerclaw to check out a prey-scent he smelt.

"Fine," said Tigerclaw nodding his head.

Ravenpaw headed over to Firepaw and whispered "What are you doing you're supposed to be with Sandpaw!"

"I saw Tigerclaw being hard on you and glaring at you so I wanted to see what was happening. What did he say to you earlier?" asked Firepaw

"What do you mean," said Ravenpaw trying to pretend he didn't know anything and failing badly at it.

"I saw him hiss in your ear Ravenpaw, what did he say?" said Firepaw.

Ravenpaw hesitated before saying "He said, you better keep your mouth shut, I saw you in the bushes and if you tell anyone I will make your death slow and miserable,"

"What did you see him do?" asked Firepaw.

"H-he he killed Redtail at the battle for Sunningrocks earlier," said Ravenpaw.

Just then a screech of "WHAT?!" erupted and they saw Sandpaw in the bush behind them.

"What are you doing and how long have you been there?" demanded Firepaw.

"Long enough to want in on whatever plan you guys have," said Sandpaw.

"I want to help! Redtail was my only family and if Tigerclaw killed him just to have hopes of becoming deputy then I want revenge!" she hissed menacingly.

"What do we do though? He will try to kill others, I know he will. How are we going to stop him?" asked Ravenpaw quietly.

"I don't know but for now we should go back and wait before we make any moves," said Firepaw.

The others nodded their heads and they went back to the patrol.

**A/N: Just a question but would you guys prefer I give you smaller frequent updates or use break lines and longer updates with longer waits?**


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